Labyrinth: The Quest for The Peaches of Life
by SVJohnson8721
Summary: You'll give her that Hoggle or I'll tip you straight into the Bog of Eternal Stench before you can blink. Sarah thought the hardships and dangers she faced were over four years ago when she said her right words and saved Toby from Jareth and his Labyrinth. New ones arise as she sets out on a quest for another Peach to save her life and possibly for a new life.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything (Though I wish I did.) This was inspired by Labyrinth, Return to Labyrinth, Howl's Moving Castle, A Spirited Away sequel FanFic by moviefan-92, Greek Mythology, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and the Chinese Mythology of Xi Wangmu and her Peaches of Immortality and The Monkey King.

(If you have not read Return to Labyrinth or did not like it, I will try not to reference it to much. I know not a lot of people liked the 4 book manga series. Please bare with me, and I'll do my best. But I make no promises.)

If you have concerns about not knowing any mythology I am referencing, fear not! I will annotate mythological figures and beasts from Wikipedia and other sources an provide links in the foot notes if you do not follow any Mythology, but still want to feel like a nerdy geek like me.

Without further ado let the story commence.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Wagers and the Peaches of Life**

Jareth's heart would be Mizumi's if it was the last thing she did; at one point he had pursued her, and they courted; then one day he told her that he was just over her. Heartbroken, she tried to assuage herself; she created two ablations out of her hope and regret, her daughters Moulin and Drumlin; but that helped very little.

When she heard the human girl Jareth was infatuated with rejected him; it was just too rich. She decided to pay Jareth a visit under the guise of collecting from their wager.

Mizumi couldn't stand that Jareth had chosen a mortal over her; when she found that out, she and Jareth had made a wager. If Sarah beat Jareth and his Labyrinth, Jareth's heart and Kingdom would be her's. If Sarah lost, Sarah would be her new play thing to do with as she wished.

"Your Highness. Her Majesty, Queen and Sorceress Mizumi; The Queen of Moranie." A goblin announced.

Mizumi glared at the goblin and turned her nose up at it. Vile creature, and no fanfare. She didn't understand his fascination with these abominable beings, even if he was forced to rule them.

Jareth hadn't planned to fall in love with Sarah, he knew he wasn't in love with her at first; but after being captivated by her story telling of him and his Labyrinth something changed. After the wager and after falling for her, he had tried hiding Sarah in a peach dream, he also tried the junkyard. But Sarah was to smart for her own good.

Jareth, in his white poet's shirt, black vest, gray skin tight pants, was sitting across his throne. He knew why Mizumi was there. He had hoped gloating was beneath her, "Mizumi, can't say that I'm not surprised." he also hoped she had forgotten about their wager.

"Aren't you though," Mizumi smirked as she walked in; she was dressed in a long flowing white and icy blue color gown, a matching crown adorned her head of long snow white hair that was down. "I admit, I was a little hurt when I heard of your little infatuation. But it hurt more for you to think I wouldn't have found a way to her when you tried to hide the mortal." She glamoured into Sarah in the peach dream Ball Gown for a split second.

_Right to it then is it_; Jareth thought. "A bit jealous are you? Envy doesn't suit you."

Mizumi scowled, granted it that she was jealous. What did he see in that mortal he didn't in her. "Quit the contrary. I am merely amused." She relaxed her expression.

Jareth also scowled. It was more fun to be amused than it was to be someone else's amusement. "Come, come, come now Mizumi; if my plight amuses you, you're more jaded than I thought. What a pity."

Mizumi scoffed and smirked. Had he forgotten their wager. His heart and Labyrinth if Sarah was fortunate enough to best Jareth and his Labyrinth, and rescue the babe. Which she did. "I have come to collect."

Jareth also smirked. "Ah, yes. My Labyrinth and heart was it." He rose and stalked towards Mizumi. "I'm quite fond of both, I think I'll keep them. We both know I never actually intended to give you either." He circled her.

What Mizumi didn't know was that he had hidden his heart with the Fireys. She never liked them, and wouldn't think of looking for his heart there with them. He would have to thank his half sister Asteria for the Star he swallowed. Both his sisters were kind to him, Asteria more so than Leto.

Sometimes he was jealous of his sisters, he had been cursed to rule the Goblins and the Underground because of their father's, Coeus, infidelity. It was his stepmother Phoebe who had cursed him, so he understood Sarah there. But he also understood that Phoebe was his father's wife before he was born.

Mizumi's eyes narrowed in anger. _You cheat, you nasty cheat._ She thought as she watched him circle her. "That's not fair." She then realized he had no heart beat. That rat! So he loved without his heartbeat. He must have hidden his heart. "Damn you Jareth," she said under her breath.

"Really." Jareth stopped in front of her. "Then how 'bout upping the stakes." He started formulating a plan and wondered if it would work to get him out of the former wager. Of course even if it did work, it'd still have to involve Sarah because of the last wager.

Mizumi looked at Jareth with suspicion. What more could he risk than he already had. She was as intrigued as much as she was perplexed and upset. "Another wager. What did you have in mind."

"Sarah Williams, champion of the Labyrinth, will embark on a quest."Jareth smirked. He knew Sarah could do it, she had bested his Labyrinth and him; he liked her spark and would accept no one less as his equal and Queen.

"But you have no power over her." Mizumi chuckled and crossed her arms. "She said so herself.

"Don't I." Jareth clicked his tongue and tsk-tsked Mizumi. "I didn't have Higwiggle give Sarah just any peach even though it wasn't a immortal peach. Sarah Williams will never crave human food again. Or do you forget the consequences." Sarah had turned his world, he realized Sarah was as precious to him as Persephone was to Demeter, and he had tricked her... He had to make it right.

Mizumi laughed to herself. He tried to hide his precious mortal from her. "Hold on." She had to think about that for a moment. Why bring up the Peaches of Immortality... "You're going to send her on a quest for a Peach of Immortality." She unfurled her arms. So this wasn't just going to be some wager; it was a way to get to Sarah. That sneaky rat. "You do realize only two mortals have ever received the Peaches of Immortality. And an Immortal Courtier was sent to live among the mortals as a mortal as punishment for trying to steal the Peaches." It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact.

The Queen Mother Xi Wangmu was very protective of the Peaches because they took so long to cultivate, thousands of years.

"Of course I know that. I wouldn't want Sarah to steal the Peaches." Yes, Jareth knew that King Mu of Zhou and Emperor Wu of Han had been the only two mortals to ever be given the Peaches. "I wager Sarah can make it to see Xi Wangmu on Mount Kunlun and convince her to let her have a Peach. If she doesn't My Labyrinth and heart are yours as promised."

"You're going to have to do a lot better than that. How can I trust that you'll keep your word this time, now that I know you never intended to keep it in the first place." Mizumi scoffed and crossed her arms again.

"May I be tipped head first straight into the Bog of Eternal Stench before I can blink ." Jareth started. " if I do not keep my word. As well as lose my memory and immortality."

Mizumi was shocked. What had gotten into the Goblin King. What was so special about that lowly human that entranced the Goblin King. A heart's a heavy burden, and Mizumi was all about trying to avoid that burden now.

Nonetheless Mizumi took the wager, as she wondered where he hid his heart, as well as wondered what her next move should be. The mortal girl still had to be stopped of course, but how.

Xi Wangmu saw and heard all this, and took pity on this mortal girl Jareth called Sarah. She could also see the Nereid was indeed in love with this mortal girl, but was it true, and did the human girl return the affections. Perhaps this could be an opportunity to test them both. She began forming her own plan. Not that she couldn't intercede, they were talking about her peaches after all; but that presumptuous Nereid needed to be taught a lesson. Faerie or Fae for short was a modern term mortals used for certain Nereids. And certain Fae they called Elves. Mortals had many names for many things.

She waited til the mortal Sarah had begun to drift off to sleep to visit her in her dreams.

* * *

As she sat reading "A Journey To The West", by Wu Cheng'en on the stone bench closest to the bridge in her favorite park down the road, apart of Sarah couldn't help but fantasize about goning on another adventure. As much as she liked re-enacting and reading Labyrinth, she also loved reading other fantasy novels. She had recently discovered foreign fantasy novels, and she was not disappointed.

She sneezed, and wiped her nose with a tissue. Ever since she took a bite of the tainted peach she was never quite felt the same at home aboveground, and she didn't have much of an appetite anymore. She had never questioned Hoggle if the peach he gave her was Fae food, why should she, Hoggle wasn't Fae.

As she started to drift off to sleep, she never expected anything from the Underground to be apart of her life again back home above ground. And little did she know that her world would be turned upside down... again.

Sarah didn't know she was dreaming as the clock tower bell chimed, notifying her that it was One O'clock PM. She looked up from reading and petting Merlin, as she did she saw a Chinese woman walking towards her. This woman had an air of importance and the scenery behind her showed it as it looked brighter and more mysterious around her, the rest of the scenery almost looked overcast.

This woman looked superlunary and wore a long red Cheongsam inlaid with gold peaches and peach leaves. She had her long black hair in a half updo and two strands of bangs hanging loose. A single bejeweled wreath like hair pin adorned her hair holding it back.

Sarah thought it a bit odd that this ethereal Chinese lady showed up as she read "Journey to the West". Not that she could read anything out of a book, she didn't possess a silver tongue like most public speakers.

"Do not be afraid Sarah, you are dreaming and I am visiting you in your dream. You have a quest a head of you, with many dangers." The woman walked by and stopped a moment then, Sarah didn't know where the lady was keeping what ever she had, held out a herb of some sort with black roots and a flower white as milk. "I believe you'll be needing this a little later, it helped Odysseus, and it would be wise to keep a hand mirror close."

Sarah was a little confused... helped Odysseus, was this Moly? What was going on and who was this lady. But she took the item none-the-less as confused as she was.

"Uh... wait, what... I... I mean, thank you... thank you..." Sarah hesitantly took the Moly and examined it more as she trailed off not knowing this lady's name. Wait, was she indeed dreaming as this lady said. Moly couldn't be real, it was just a magical herb from an ancient story. She didn't know whether she should have or shouldn't have taken the herb.

"I am known by many names, but you can call me Numina. But the deity you need is The Monkey King. If he truly wants to be freed from his prison, redeemed, and return to Heaven; he'll help you."

Sarah's eyes grew wide, and she looked to the book she was reading, then looked around for the lady but she was gone. With that Sarah had woken up, a little confused, she found the magic herb in her hand and with that she knew that had been more than a dream. And headed to her parents house.

* * *

**Notes and Annotations **

First a big thank you to tmwillson3 for bata reading, and helping me bounce ideas around.

I hadn't planned on starting another story until the others were further along or done. But I guess the Muses visited me.

**Nereid**

In Greek mythology, the Nereids (/ˈnɪəriɪdz/ NEER-ee-idz; Greek: Νηρηΐδες Nereides, sg. Νηρηΐς Nereis) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of Nereus and Doris, sisters to Nerites. They often accompany Poseidon, the god of the sea, and can be friendly and helpful to sailors, like the Argonauts in their search for the Golden Fleece.

most notable are Thetis mother of Achilles (A hero of the Trojan War), Amphitrite wife of Poseidon and mother of Triton and Galatea the requited love interest of Polyphemus, the cyclops that Odysseus blinded on his odyssey home in Homer's epic The Odyssey.

They symbolized everything that is beautiful and kind about the sea. Their melodious voices sang as they danced around their father.

In modern Greek folklore nereid has come to be use for all nymphs, faeries, and mermaids not just sea en. m. wikipedia.

en. wiki/Nereid

en. wiki/Odysseus

**Breoe**

Breoe is the daughter of Aphrodite and Adonis in Greek mythology who was wooed by Poseidon and Dionysus. She married Poseidon. Eros struck her twice with arrows of love and a confrontation took place for her love. She was a mortal but her beauty was often compared to that of goddesses.

en. wiki/Beroe_(mythology)

en. wiki/Nereid

Breoe is under names

**Coeus**

Coeus is the Titan god of the north, His name means questioning, the Titan God of inquisitive minds and intelligence. He is one of the Titan sons of Uranus and Gaia. He represented one of the four pillars of the Earth along with his brothers Hyperion, Lapetus, Crius. The Titans were later over thrown by Zeus and imprisoned in Tartarus. Coeus overcome with madness, broke free from his bonds and attempted to escape his imprisonment but was repelled by Cerberus, the guard dog of the underworld.

en. wiki/Coeus

. . .amp

/nzZipCnnbXE

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**Phoebe**

In ancient Greek religion, Phoebe was one of the first generation of Titans, who were one set of sons and daughters of Uranus and Gaia.

Phoebe is a Titaness whose consort was her brother Coeus, with whom she had two daughters, Leto, who bore Apollo and Artemis, and Asteria, a star-goddess who bore an only daughter, Hecate. Given the meaning of her name and her association with the Delphic oracle, Phoebe was perhaps seen as the Titan goddess of prophecy and oracular intellect.

en. wiki/Phoebe_(Titaness)

en. wiki/Coeus

**Asteria**

In Greek Mythology Asteria or Asterie was the Titan goddess of nocturnal oracles and falling stars.

Asteria is the daughter of the Titan god Coeus and Phoebe and sister of Leto. According to Hesiod, by the Titan Perses she had a daughter Hecate, goddess of witchcraft. Other authors made Asteria the mother of the fourth Heracles and Hecate by Zeus.

en. wiki/Asteria_(Titaness)

en. wiki/Phoebe_(Titaness)

en. wiki/Coeus

**Leto**

In Greek mythology Leto is a daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe, the sister of Asteria, and the mother of Apollo and Artemis.

The island of Kos is claimed as her birthplace. Diodorus, in 2.47 states clearly that Leto was born in Hyperboreaand not in Kos. In the Olympian scheme, Zeus is the father of her twins, Apollo and Artemis, which Leto conceived after her hidden beauty accidentally caught the eyes of Zeus. Classical Greek myths record little about Leto other than her pregnancy and her search for a place where she could give birth to Apollo and Artemis, since Hera in her jealousy caused all lands to shun her. Finally, she found an island that was not attached to the ocean floor so it was not considered land and she could give birth. This is her only active mythic role: once Apollo and Artemis are grown, Leto withdraws, to remain a dim and benevolent matronly figure upon Olympus, her part already played.

en. wiki/Leto

en. wiki/Phoebe_(Titaness)

en. wiki/Coeus

**Moly**

In the story The Odyssey by Homer, Hermes gave this herb, moly, to Odysseus to protect him from Circe's wizardry when he went to her palace to rescue his friends.

According to the "New History" of Ptolemy Hephaestion (according to Photius) the plant mentioned by Homer grew from the blood of the Giant killed on Circe's island, by Helios ally of Circe. In this description the flower was white, and a derivation of the name was given, from the "hard" (Greek malos) combat with the Giant.

Homer also describes Moly by saying "The root was black, while the flower was as white as milk; the gods call it Moly, Dangerous for a mortal man to pluck from the soil, but not for the deathless gods. All lies within their power".

en. wiki/Moly_(herb)

**Peaches of Immortality**

Peaches symbolizes immortality in Chinese art. The Peaches of immortality are consumed by the immortals due to their mystic virtue of conferring longevity on all who eat them. The Jade Emperor and his wife Xi Wangmu ensured the deities everlasting existence by feasting them with the peaches of immortality. The Immortals that reside in the palace of Xi Wangmu were said to celebrate an extravagant banquet called the "Feast of Peaches", celebrated on earth in honor of (birthday) Xi Wangmu, on the third day of the third moon month. The immortals wait six thousand years before gathering for this magnificent feast; the Peaches tree puts forth leaves once every thousand years and requires another three thousand years for the fruit to ripen

It is a major item featured within the popular fantasy novel Journey to the West. The first time in which these immortal peaches were seen had been within heaven when Sun Wukong had been stationed as the Protector of the Peaches. As the Protector, Sun quickly realized the legendary effects of the immortal peaches if they were to be consumed – over 3,000 years of life after the consumption of a single peach – and acted quickly as to consume one. However, he ended up running into many fragments of trouble such as a certain queen that was planning on holding a peach banquet for many members of Heaven.

en. wiki/Peaches_of_Immortality

**The Queen Mother of the West Xi Wangmu**

The Queen Mother of the West, known by various local names, is a goddess in Chinese religion and mythology, also worshipped in neighbouring Asian countries, and attested from ancient times. The first historical information on her can be traced back to oracle bone inscriptions of the fifteenth century BC that record sacrifices to a "Western Mother". Even though these inscriptions illustrate that she predates organized Taoism, she is most often associated with Taoism.

Queen Mother of the West is a calque of Xiwangmu in Chinese sources, Seiōbo in Japan, Seowangmo in Korea, and Tây Vương Mẫu in Vietnam. She has numerous titles, one of the most popular being the Golden Mother of the Jade or Turquoise Pond.

Tang writers called her "Golden Mother the First Ruler", the "Golden Mother of Tortoise Mountain", "She of the Nine Numina and the Grand Marvel", and the "Perfected Marvel of the Western Florescence and Ultimate Worthy of the Cavernous Darkness". Commoners and poets of the era referred to her more simply as the "Queen Mother", the "Divine Mother", or simply "Nanny" (Amah).

en. wiki/Queen_Mother_of_the_West

**Sun Wongku (The Monkey King, The Handsome Monkey King, The Great Sage Heaven's Equal)**

Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King, is a mythological figure who features in a body of legends that can be traced back to the Song dynasty. He appears as a main character in the 16th century Chinese classical novelJourney to the West (西游记/西遊記) and is found in many later stories and adaptations. In the novel, he is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices. After rebelling against heaven and being imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha, he later accompanies the monk Tang Sanzang on a journey to retrieve Buddhist sutras from "the West" where Buddha and his followers reside.

According to the legend, Sun Wukong is born from a magic stone that sits atop the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. The stone develops a magic womb, which bursts open one day to produce a stone egg about the size of a ball. When wind blows on the egg, it turns into a stone monkey that can already crawl and walk. As his eyes move, two beams of golden light shoot toward the Jade palace and startle the Jade Emperor. When he sees the light he orders two of his officers to investigate. They report the stone monkey, and that the light is dying down as the monkey eats and drinks. The Jade Emperor believes him to be nothing special.

On the mountain, the monkey befriends various animals, and joins a group of other monkeys. After playing, the monkeys regularly bathe in a stream.

One day, they decide to seek the stream's source, and climb the mountain to a waterfall. They declare that whoever goes through the waterfall, finds the stream's source, and comes out again will become their king. The stone monkey volunteers and jumps into the waterfall.

He finds a large iron bridge over rushing water, across which is a cave. He persuades the other monkeys to jump in also, and they make it into their home. Sun Wukong then reminds them of their prior declaration, so they declare him their king. He takes the throne and calls himself Handsome Monkey King.

Sun Wukong possesses immense strength; he is able to lift his 13.500 jīn or 7960 kg staff with ease. He is also extremely fast, able to travel 108,000 li (21,675 kilometres (13,468 mi)) in one somersault. Sun also knows the 72 Earthly transformations, which allow him to transform into various animals and objects. Sun Wukong is a skilled fighter, capable of defeating the best warriors of heaven. His hair possesses magical properties, capable of summoning clones of the Monkey King himself, and/or into various weapons, animals, and other objects. He has demonstrated partial weather manipulation abilities as well, and is able to freeze living creatures and even gods with his icy breath.

One of the most enduring Chinese literary characters, Sun Wukong has a varied background and colorful cultural history. Sun Wukong's inspiration came from the White Monkey legends from the Chinese Chu kingdom (700–223 BC), which revered gibbons and especially white ones. These legends gave rise to stories and art motifs during the Han dynasty, eventually contributing to the creation of the Sun Wukong figure. Sun Wukong was initially developed in the book as a Taoist immortal/Deity before being incorporated into Buddhist legends. His religious status is often denied by Buddhist Monks both Chinese and non-Chinese alike, but is very welcomed by the general public, spreading its name across the globe and establishing itself as a cultural icon. He is also considered by some scholars to be influenced by elements of both Chinese urban myths and the Hindu deity Hanuman from the Ramayana.

en. wiki/Monkey_King

**King Mu of Zhou**

King Mu of Zhou was the fifth king of the Zhou dynasty of China. King Mu came to the throne after his father King Zhao's death during his tour to the South. King Mu was perhaps the most pivotal king of the Zhou dynasty, reigning nearly 55 years, from ca. 976 BC to ca. 922 BC. Mu was more ambitious than wise, yet he was able to introduce reforms that changed the nature of the Zhou government, transforming it from a hereditary system to one that was based on merit and knowledge of administrative skills. During Mu's reign, the Zhou Dynasty was at its peak, and Mu tried to stamp out invaders in the western part of China and ultimately expand Zhou's influence to the east. In the height of his passion for conquests, he led an immense army against the Quanrong, who inhabited the western part of China.

This expedition may have been more of a failure than a success, judging by the fact that he brought back only four white wolves and four white deer. Unintentionally and inadvertently, he thus sowed the seeds of hatred which culminated in an invasion of China by the same tribes in 771 BC. In his thirteenth year the Xu Rong, probably the state of Xu in the southeast, raided near the eastern capital of Fenghao. The war seems to have ended in a truce in which the state of Xu gained land and power in return for nominal submission.

While some praise his victories against the Qun Rong, others criticized him for from his time, the fourth border state no longer entered into a relationship with the Zhou Dynasty. Even still, the Shang Shu credited him with establishing the first systematic legal code in China.

Mu was reputed in narratives to have lived until the age of 105 and to have traveled to the mythical mountain known as Kunlun - a popular later work is the Tale of King Mu, Son of Heaven. One Chinese myth tells a story about Mu, who dreamed of becoming an immortal. He was determined to visit the divine paradise of Kunlun and taste the Peaches of Immortality. A brave charioteer named Zaofu used his chariot to carry the king to his destination. The Tale of King Mu, Son of Heaven, a fourth-century BC romance, describes Mu's visit to the Queen Mother of the West.

There are several different accounts of this story but they all agree that King Mu, one of the greatest rulers of the Zhou, set out on a trip with his eight chargers to the far western regions of his he obtains the eight chargers and has the circuit of his realm, it proves that he has the Mandate of Heaven. On his journey he encounters the Queen Mother of the West on the mythical Mount Kunlun. They then have a love affair, and King Mu, hoping to obtain immortality, gives the Queen Mother important national treasures. In the end he must return to the human realm, and does not receive immortality. The relationship between the Queen Mother of the West and King Mu has been compared to that of a Taoist master and disciple. She passes on secret teachings to him at his request and he, the disciple, fails to benefit, and dies like any other mortal.

en. wiki/King_Mu_of_Zhou

en. wiki/Queen_Mother_of_the_West

**Emperor Wu of Han**

Emperor Wu of Han (30 July 157 BC – 29 March 87 BC), born Liu Che, courtesy name Tong, was the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty of China, ruling from 141–87 BC. His reign lasted 54 years — a record not broken until the reign of the Kangxi Emperor more than 1,800 years later. His reign resulted in a vast territorial expansion and the development of a strong and centralized state resulting from his governmental reorganization, including his promotion of Confucian doctrines. In the field of historical social and cultural studies, Emperor Wu is known for his religious innovations and patronage of the poetic and musical arts, including development of the Imperial Music Bureau into a prestigious entity. It was also during his reign that cultural contact with western Eurasia was greatly increased, directly and indirectly.

As a military campaigner, Emperor Wu led Han China through its greatest expansion. At its height, the Empire's borders spanned from modern Kyrgyzstan in the west, to Korea in the east, and to northern Vietnam in the south. Emperor Wu successfully repelled the nomadic Xiongnu from systematically raiding northern China, and dispatched his envoy Zhang Qian in 139 BC to seek an alliance with the Yuezhi of Kangju (Sogdia, modern Uzbekistan). This resulted in further missions to Central Asia.

Emperor Wu is considered one of the greatest emperors in Chinese history, due to his effective governance which made the Han dynasty one of the most powerful nations in the world. His policies and most trusted advisers were Legalist, favouring adherents of Shang Yang. However, despite establishing an autocratic and centralised state, Emperor Wu adopted the principles of Confucianism as the state philosophy and code of ethics for his empire and started a school to teach future administrators the Confucian classics. These reforms had an enduring effect throughout the existence of imperial China and an enormous influence on neighbouring civilizations.

The personal name of Emperor Wu was Liu Che (刘彻). The use of "Han" (汉) in referring to emperor Wu is a reference to the Han dynasty of which he was a part. His family name is "Liu"; the ruling family or clan of the Han dynasty shared the family name of "Liu", the family name of Liu Bang, the founding father of the Han dynasty. The character "Di" (帝) is a title: this is the Chinese word which in imperial history of China means "emperor". The character "Wu" (武) literally means "martial" or "warlike", but is also related to the concept of a particular divinity in the historical Chinese religious pantheon existing at that time. Combined, "Wu" plus "di" makes the name "Wudi", the emperor's posthumous name [8] used for historical and for religious purposes, such as offering him posthumous honours at his tomb.

One of Han Wudi's innovations was the practice of changing reign names after a number of years, as deemed auspicious or to commemorate some event. Thus the practice for dating years during the reign of Wudi was represented by the nth year of the [Reign Year Name] (where nth stands for an ordinal integer) and "Reign Year Name" for the specific name of that regnal year.

As legend tells Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty and the Queen Mother of the West met during the height of Wu's reign, when she visited him during the night of Double Seven, the night for encounters between mortal men and divine women. When the Queen Mother of the West visits Emperor Wu she shares a banquet with him, grants him special teachings, and then departs. Emperor Wu just like King Mu before him fails to follow her teachings, and fails to put them into practice, and therefore he inevitably dies. The whole story of their meeting is described in Li Qi's long work "Songs of the Queen Mother":

**The Martial Illustrious One fasted and observed abstinence in his Basilica for Receiving Florescence;**

**As he stood upright with folded hands, instantly the Queen Mother came to grant him an audience.**

**Rainbow standards numinously flashing: her qilin-drawn chariots,**

**With feathered parasols streaming and pheasant fans.**

**Her fingers holding intertwined pears, she sent them along for the emperor to eat;**

**By means of them one can prolong life and preside over the cosmos.**

**On top of her head she wore the nine-starred crown;**

**She led a flock of jade lads, then sat facing south.**

**"Do you want to hear my essential words? Now I'll report them to you."**

**The emperor thereupon burned incense and requested such a discussion.**

**"If you can rarefy your earth soul and dispatch the three corpses,**

**Afterward you will certainly have an audience with me at the Celestial Illustrious One's palace."**

**Turning her head back, she told the servant girl, Dong Shuangcheng,**

**"The wind is finished; you may perform on the Cloud Harmony Mouth Organ."**

**Red auroral clouds and the white sun, in strict attendance, did not move;**

**Seven dragons and five phoenixes in variegated disarray greeted them.**

**How regrettable! He was too ambitious and arrogant; the divinities were not satisfied,**

**But sighed and lamented over his horses' hooves and chariots' wheel tracks.**

**In his covered walkways, song bells became hard to discern in the approaching evening;**

**In the deep palace, peach and plum flowers turned snowy.**

**Now I just look at my blue jade five-branched lamp;**

**Its coiled dragon spits fire as the light is about to be severed.**

en. wiki/Emperor_Wu_of_Han

en. wiki/Queen_Mother_of_the_West


	2. Chapter A Particularly Nice Gesture

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything (Though I wish I did.) This was inspired by Labyrinth, Return to Labyrinth, Howl's Moving Castle, A Spirited Away sequel FanFic by moviefan-92, Greek Mythology, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and the Chinese Mythology of Xi Wangmu and her Peaches of Immortality and The Monkey King.

(If you have not read Return to Labyrinth or did not like it, I will try not to reference it to much. I know not a lot of people liked the 4 book manga series. Please bare with me, and I'll do my best. But I make no promises.)

If you have concerns about not knowing any mythology I am referencing, fear not! I will annotate mythological figures and beasts from Wikipedia and other sources an provide links in the foot notes if you do not follow any Mythology, but still want to feel like a nerdy geek like me.

Without further ado let the story commence.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Wagers and the Peaches of Life**

Jareth's heart would be Mizumi's if it was the last thing she did; at one point he had pursued her, and they courted; then one day he told her that he was just over her. Heartbroken, she tried to assuage herself; she created two ablations out of her hope and regret, her daughters Moulin and Drumlin; but that helped very little.

When she heard the human girl Jareth was infatuated with rejected him; it was just too rich. She decided to pay Jareth a visit under the guise of collecting from their wager.

Mizumi couldn't stand that Jareth had chosen a mortal over her; when she found that out, she and Jareth had made a wager. If Sarah beat Jareth and his Labyrinth, Jareth's heart and Kingdom would be her's. If Sarah lost, Sarah would be her new play thing to do with as she wished.

"Your Highness. Her Majesty, Queen and Sorceress Mizumi; The Queen of Moranie." A goblin announced.

Mizumi glared at the goblin and turned her nose up at it. Vile creature, and no fanfare. She didn't understand his fascination with these abominable beings, even if he was forced to rule them.

Jareth hadn't planned to fall in love with Sarah, he knew he wasn't in love with her at first; but after being captivated by her story telling of him and his Labyrinth something changed. After the wager and after falling for her, he had tried hiding Sarah in a peach dream, he also tried the junkyard. But Sarah was to smart for her own good.

Jareth, in his white poet's shirt, black vest, gray skin tight pants, was sitting across his throne. He knew why Mizumi was there. He had hoped gloating was beneath her, "Mizumi, can't say that I'm not surprised." he also hoped she had forgotten about their wager.

"Aren't you though," Mizumi smirked as she walked in; she was dressed in a long flowing white and icy blue color gown, a matching crown adorned her head of long snow white hair that was down. "I admit, I was a little hurt when I heard of your little infatuation. But it hurt more for you to think I wouldn't have found a way to her when you tried to hide the mortal." She glamoured into Sarah in the peach dream Ball Gown for a split second.

_Right to it then is it_; Jareth thought. "A bit jealous are you? Envy doesn't suit you."

Mizumi scowled, granted it that she was jealous. What did he see in that mortal he didn't in her. "Quit the contrary. I am merely amused." She relaxed her expression.

Jareth also scowled. It was more fun to be amused than it was to be someone else's amusement. "Come, come, come now Mizumi; if my plight amuses you, you're more jaded than I thought. What a pity."

Mizumi scoffed and smirked. Had he forgotten their wager. His heart and Labyrinth if Sarah was fortunate enough to best Jareth and his Labyrinth, and rescue the babe. Which she did. "I have come to collect."

Jareth also smirked. "Ah, yes. My Labyrinth and heart was it." He rose and stalked towards Mizumi. "I'm quite fond of both, I think I'll keep them. We both know I never actually intended to give you either." He circled her.

What Mizumi didn't know was that he had hidden his heart with the Fireys. She never liked them, and wouldn't think of looking for his heart there with them. He would have to thank his half sister Asteria for the Star he swallowed. Both his sisters were kind to him, Asteria more so than Leto.

Sometimes he was jealous of his sisters, he had been cursed to rule the Goblins and the Underground because of their father's, Coeus, infidelity. It was his stepmother Phoebe who had cursed him, so he understood Sarah there. But he also understood that Phoebe was his father's wife before he was born.

Mizumi's eyes narrowed in anger. _You cheat, you nasty cheat._ She thought as she watched him circle her. "That's not fair." She then realized he had no heart beat. That rat! So he loved without his heartbeat. He must have hidden his heart. "Damn you Jareth," she said under her breath.

"Really." Jareth stopped in front of her. "Then how 'bout upping the stakes." He started formulating a plan and wondered if it would work to get him out of the former wager. Of course even if it did work, it'd still have to involve Sarah because of the last wager.

Mizumi looked at Jareth with suspicion. What more could he risk than he already had. She was as intrigued as much as she was perplexed and upset. "Another wager. What did you have in mind."

"Sarah Williams, champion of the Labyrinth, will embark on a quest."Jareth smirked. He knew Sarah could do it, she had bested his Labyrinth and him; he liked her spark and would accept no one less as his equal and Queen.

"But you have no power over her." Mizumi chuckled and crossed her arms. "She said so herself.

"Don't I." Jareth clicked his tongue and tsk-tsked Mizumi. "I didn't have Higwiggle give Sarah just any peach even though it wasn't a immortal peach. Sarah Williams will never crave human food again. Or do you forget the consequences." Sarah had turned his world, he realized Sarah was as precious to him as Persephone was to Demeter, and he had tricked her... He had to make it right.

Mizumi laughed to herself. He tried to hide his precious mortal from her. "Hold on." She had to think about that for a moment. Why bring up the Peaches of Immortality... "You're going to send her on a quest for a Peach of Immortality." She unfurled her arms. So this wasn't just going to be some wager; it was a way to get to Sarah. That sneaky rat. "You do realize only two mortals have ever received the Peaches of Immortality. And an Immortal Courtier was sent to live among the mortals as a mortal as punishment for trying to steal the Peaches." It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact.

The Queen Mother Xi Wangmu was very protective of the Peaches because they took so long to cultivate, thousands of years.

"Of course I know that. I wouldn't want Sarah to steal the Peaches." Yes, Jareth knew that King Mu of Zhou and Emperor Wu of Han had been the only two mortals to ever be given the Peaches. "I wager Sarah can make it to see Xi Wangmu on Mount Kunlun and convince her to let her have a Peach. If she doesn't My Labyrinth and heart are yours as promised."

"You're going to have to do a lot better than that. How can I trust that you'll keep your word this time, now that I know you never intended to keep it in the first place." Mizumi scoffed and crossed her arms again.

"May I be tipped head first straight into the Bog of Eternal Stench before I can blink ." Jareth started. " if I do not keep my word. As well as lose my memory and immortality."

Mizumi was shocked. What had gotten into the Goblin King. What was so special about that lowly human that entranced the Goblin King. A heart's a heavy burden, and Mizumi was all about trying to avoid that burden now.

Nonetheless Mizumi took the wager, as she wondered where he hid his heart, as well as wondered what her next move should be. The mortal girl still had to be stopped of course, but how.

Xi Wangmu saw and heard all this, and took pity on this mortal girl Jareth called Sarah. She could also see the Nereid was indeed in love with this mortal girl, but was it true, and did the human girl return the affections. Perhaps this could be an opportunity to test them both. She began forming her own plan. Not that she couldn't intercede, they were talking about her peaches after all; but that presumptuous Nereid needed to be taught a lesson. Faerie or Fae for short was a modern term mortals used for certain Nereids. And certain Fae they called Elves. Mortals had many names for many things.

She waited til the mortal Sarah had begun to drift off to sleep to visit her in her dreams.

* * *

As she sat reading "A Journey To The West", by Wu Cheng'en on the stone bench closest to the bridge in her favorite park down the road, apart of Sarah couldn't help but fantasize about goning on another adventure. As much as she liked re-enacting and reading Labyrinth, she also loved reading other fantasy novels. She had recently discovered foreign fantasy novels, and she was not disappointed.

She sneezed, and wiped her nose with a tissue. Ever since she took a bite of the tainted peach she was never quite felt the same at home aboveground, and she didn't have much of an appetite anymore. She had never questioned Hoggle if the peach he gave her was Fae food, why should she, Hoggle wasn't Fae.

As she started to drift off to sleep, she never expected anything from the Underground to be apart of her life again back home above ground. And little did she know that her world would be turned upside down... again.

Sarah didn't know she was dreaming as the clock tower bell chimed, notifying her that it was One O'clock PM. She looked up from reading and petting Merlin, as she did she saw a Chinese woman walking towards her. This woman had an air of importance and the scenery behind her showed it as it looked brighter and more mysterious around her, the rest of the scenery almost looked overcast.

This woman looked superlunary and wore a long red Cheongsam inlaid with gold peaches and peach leaves. She had her long black hair in a half updo and two strands of bangs hanging loose. A single bejeweled wreath like hair pin adorned her hair holding it back.

Sarah thought it a bit odd that this ethereal Chinese lady showed up as she read "Journey to the West". Not that she could read anything out of a book, she didn't possess a silver tongue like most public speakers.

"Do not be afraid Sarah, you are dreaming and I am visiting you in your dream. You have a quest a head of you, with many dangers." The woman walked by and stopped a moment then, Sarah didn't know where the lady was keeping what ever she had, held out a herb of some sort with black roots and a flower white as milk. "I believe you'll be needing this a little later, it helped Odysseus, and it would be wise to keep a hand mirror close."

Sarah was a little confused... helped Odysseus, was this Moly? What was going on and who was this lady. But she took the item none-the-less as confused as she was.

"Uh... wait, what... I... I mean, thank you... thank you..." Sarah hesitantly took the Moly and examined it more as she trailed off not knowing this lady's name. Wait, was she indeed dreaming as this lady said. Moly couldn't be real, it was just a magical herb from an ancient story. She didn't know whether she should have or shouldn't have taken the herb.

"I am known by many names, but you can call me Numina. But the deity you need is The Monkey King. If he truly wants to be freed from his prison, redeemed, and return to Heaven; he'll help you."

Sarah's eyes grew wide, and she looked to the book she was reading, then looked around for the lady but she was gone. With that Sarah had woken up, a little confused, she found the magic herb in her hand and with that she knew that had been more than a dream. And headed to her parents house.

* * *

**Notes and Annotations **

First a big thank you to tmwillson3 for bata reading, and helping me bounce ideas around.

I hadn't planned on starting another story until the others were further along or done. But I guess the Muses visited me.

**Nereid**

In Greek mythology, the Nereids (/ˈnɪəriɪdz/ NEER-ee-idz; Greek: Νηρηΐδες Nereides, sg. Νηρηΐς Nereis) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of Nereus and Doris, sisters to Nerites. They often accompany Poseidon, the god of the sea, and can be friendly and helpful to sailors, like the Argonauts in their search for the Golden Fleece.

most notable are Thetis mother of Achilles (A hero of the Trojan War), Amphitrite wife of Poseidon and mother of Triton and Galatea the requited love interest of Polyphemus, the cyclops that Odysseus blinded on his odyssey home in Homer's epic The Odyssey.

They symbolized everything that is beautiful and kind about the sea. Their melodious voices sang as they danced around their father.

In modern Greek folklore nereid has come to be use for all nymphs, faeries, and mermaids not just sea en. m. wikipedia.

en. wiki/Nereid

en. wiki/Odysseus

**Breoe**

Breoe is the daughter of Aphrodite and Adonis in Greek mythology who was wooed by Poseidon and Dionysus. She married Poseidon. Eros struck her twice with arrows of love and a confrontation took place for her love. She was a mortal but her beauty was often compared to that of goddesses.

en. wiki/Beroe_(mythology)

en. wiki/Nereid

Breoe is under names

**Coeus**

Coeus is the Titan god of the north, His name means questioning, the Titan God of inquisitive minds and intelligence. He is one of the Titan sons of Uranus and Gaia. He represented one of the four pillars of the Earth along with his brothers Hyperion, Lapetus, Crius. The Titans were later over thrown by Zeus and imprisoned in Tartarus. Coeus overcome with madness, broke free from his bonds and attempted to escape his imprisonment but was repelled by Cerberus, the guard dog of the underworld.

en. wiki/Coeus

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**Phoebe**

In ancient Greek religion, Phoebe was one of the first generation of Titans, who were one set of sons and daughters of Uranus and Gaia.

Phoebe is a Titaness whose consort was her brother Coeus, with whom she had two daughters, Leto, who bore Apollo and Artemis, and Asteria, a star-goddess who bore an only daughter, Hecate. Given the meaning of her name and her association with the Delphic oracle, Phoebe was perhaps seen as the Titan goddess of prophecy and oracular intellect.

en. wiki/Phoebe_(Titaness)

en. wiki/Coeus

**Asteria**

In Greek Mythology Asteria or Asterie was the Titan goddess of nocturnal oracles and falling stars.

Asteria is the daughter of the Titan god Coeus and Phoebe and sister of Leto. According to Hesiod, by the Titan Perses she had a daughter Hecate, goddess of witchcraft. Other authors made Asteria the mother of the fourth Heracles and Hecate by Zeus.

en. wiki/Asteria_(Titaness)

en. wiki/Phoebe_(Titaness)

en. wiki/Coeus

**Leto**

In Greek mythology Leto is a daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe, the sister of Asteria, and the mother of Apollo and Artemis.

The island of Kos is claimed as her birthplace. Diodorus, in 2.47 states clearly that Leto was born in Hyperboreaand not in Kos. In the Olympian scheme, Zeus is the father of her twins, Apollo and Artemis, which Leto conceived after her hidden beauty accidentally caught the eyes of Zeus. Classical Greek myths record little about Leto other than her pregnancy and her search for a place where she could give birth to Apollo and Artemis, since Hera in her jealousy caused all lands to shun her. Finally, she found an island that was not attached to the ocean floor so it was not considered land and she could give birth. This is her only active mythic role: once Apollo and Artemis are grown, Leto withdraws, to remain a dim and benevolent matronly figure upon Olympus, her part already played.

en. wiki/Leto

en. wiki/Phoebe_(Titaness)

en. wiki/Coeus

**Moly**

In the story The Odyssey by Homer, Hermes gave this herb, moly, to Odysseus to protect him from Circe's wizardry when he went to her palace to rescue his friends.

According to the "New History" of Ptolemy Hephaestion (according to Photius) the plant mentioned by Homer grew from the blood of the Giant killed on Circe's island, by Helios ally of Circe. In this description the flower was white, and a derivation of the name was given, from the "hard" (Greek malos) combat with the Giant.

Homer also describes Moly by saying "The root was black, while the flower was as white as milk; the gods call it Moly, Dangerous for a mortal man to pluck from the soil, but not for the deathless gods. All lies within their power".

en. wiki/Moly_(herb)

**Peaches of Immortality**

Peaches symbolizes immortality in Chinese art. The Peaches of immortality are consumed by the immortals due to their mystic virtue of conferring longevity on all who eat them. The Jade Emperor and his wife Xi Wangmu ensured the deities everlasting existence by feasting them with the peaches of immortality. The Immortals that reside in the palace of Xi Wangmu were said to celebrate an extravagant banquet called the "Feast of Peaches", celebrated on earth in honor of (birthday) Xi Wangmu, on the third day of the third moon month. The immortals wait six thousand years before gathering for this magnificent feast; the Peaches tree puts forth leaves once every thousand years and requires another three thousand years for the fruit to ripen

It is a major item featured within the popular fantasy novel Journey to the West. The first time in which these immortal peaches were seen had been within heaven when Sun Wukong had been stationed as the Protector of the Peaches. As the Protector, Sun quickly realized the legendary effects of the immortal peaches if they were to be consumed – over 3,000 years of life after the consumption of a single peach – and acted quickly as to consume one. However, he ended up running into many fragments of trouble such as a certain queen that was planning on holding a peach banquet for many members of Heaven.

en. wiki/Peaches_of_Immortality

**The Queen Mother of the West Xi Wangmu**

The Queen Mother of the West, known by various local names, is a goddess in Chinese religion and mythology, also worshipped in neighbouring Asian countries, and attested from ancient times. The first historical information on her can be traced back to oracle bone inscriptions of the fifteenth century BC that record sacrifices to a "Western Mother". Even though these inscriptions illustrate that she predates organized Taoism, she is most often associated with Taoism.

Queen Mother of the West is a calque of Xiwangmu in Chinese sources, Seiōbo in Japan, Seowangmo in Korea, and Tây Vương Mẫu in Vietnam. She has numerous titles, one of the most popular being the Golden Mother of the Jade or Turquoise Pond.

Tang writers called her "Golden Mother the First Ruler", the "Golden Mother of Tortoise Mountain", "She of the Nine Numina and the Grand Marvel", and the "Perfected Marvel of the Western Florescence and Ultimate Worthy of the Cavernous Darkness". Commoners and poets of the era referred to her more simply as the "Queen Mother", the "Divine Mother", or simply "Nanny" (Amah).

en. wiki/Queen_Mother_of_the_West

**Sun Wongku (The Monkey King, The Handsome Monkey King, The Great Sage Heaven's Equal)**

Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King, is a mythological figure who features in a body of legends that can be traced back to the Song dynasty. He appears as a main character in the 16th century Chinese classical novelJourney to the West (西游记/西遊記) and is found in many later stories and adaptations. In the novel, he is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices. After rebelling against heaven and being imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha, he later accompanies the monk Tang Sanzang on a journey to retrieve Buddhist sutras from "the West" where Buddha and his followers reside.

According to the legend, Sun Wukong is born from a magic stone that sits atop the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. The stone develops a magic womb, which bursts open one day to produce a stone egg about the size of a ball. When wind blows on the egg, it turns into a stone monkey that can already crawl and walk. As his eyes move, two beams of golden light shoot toward the Jade palace and startle the Jade Emperor. When he sees the light he orders two of his officers to investigate. They report the stone monkey, and that the light is dying down as the monkey eats and drinks. The Jade Emperor believes him to be nothing special.

On the mountain, the monkey befriends various animals, and joins a group of other monkeys. After playing, the monkeys regularly bathe in a stream.

One day, they decide to seek the stream's source, and climb the mountain to a waterfall. They declare that whoever goes through the waterfall, finds the stream's source, and comes out again will become their king. The stone monkey volunteers and jumps into the waterfall.

He finds a large iron bridge over rushing water, across which is a cave. He persuades the other monkeys to jump in also, and they make it into their home. Sun Wukong then reminds them of their prior declaration, so they declare him their king. He takes the throne and calls himself Handsome Monkey King.

Sun Wukong possesses immense strength; he is able to lift his 13.500 jīn or 7960 kg staff with ease. He is also extremely fast, able to travel 108,000 li (21,675 kilometres (13,468 mi)) in one somersault. Sun also knows the 72 Earthly transformations, which allow him to transform into various animals and objects. Sun Wukong is a skilled fighter, capable of defeating the best warriors of heaven. His hair possesses magical properties, capable of summoning clones of the Monkey King himself, and/or into various weapons, animals, and other objects. He has demonstrated partial weather manipulation abilities as well, and is able to freeze living creatures and even gods with his icy breath.

One of the most enduring Chinese literary characters, Sun Wukong has a varied background and colorful cultural history. Sun Wukong's inspiration came from the White Monkey legends from the Chinese Chu kingdom (700–223 BC), which revered gibbons and especially white ones. These legends gave rise to stories and art motifs during the Han dynasty, eventually contributing to the creation of the Sun Wukong figure. Sun Wukong was initially developed in the book as a Taoist immortal/Deity before being incorporated into Buddhist legends. His religious status is often denied by Buddhist Monks both Chinese and non-Chinese alike, but is very welcomed by the general public, spreading its name across the globe and establishing itself as a cultural icon. He is also considered by some scholars to be influenced by elements of both Chinese urban myths and the Hindu deity Hanuman from the Ramayana.

en. wiki/Monkey_King

**King Mu of Zhou**

King Mu of Zhou was the fifth king of the Zhou dynasty of China. King Mu came to the throne after his father King Zhao's death during his tour to the South. King Mu was perhaps the most pivotal king of the Zhou dynasty, reigning nearly 55 years, from ca. 976 BC to ca. 922 BC. Mu was more ambitious than wise, yet he was able to introduce reforms that changed the nature of the Zhou government, transforming it from a hereditary system to one that was based on merit and knowledge of administrative skills. During Mu's reign, the Zhou Dynasty was at its peak, and Mu tried to stamp out invaders in the western part of China and ultimately expand Zhou's influence to the east. In the height of his passion for conquests, he led an immense army against the Quanrong, who inhabited the western part of China.

This expedition may have been more of a failure than a success, judging by the fact that he brought back only four white wolves and four white deer. Unintentionally and inadvertently, he thus sowed the seeds of hatred which culminated in an invasion of China by the same tribes in 771 BC. In his thirteenth year the Xu Rong, probably the state of Xu in the southeast, raided near the eastern capital of Fenghao. The war seems to have ended in a truce in which the state of Xu gained land and power in return for nominal submission.

While some praise his victories against the Qun Rong, others criticized him for from his time, the fourth border state no longer entered into a relationship with the Zhou Dynasty. Even still, the Shang Shu credited him with establishing the first systematic legal code in China.

Mu was reputed in narratives to have lived until the age of 105 and to have traveled to the mythical mountain known as Kunlun - a popular later work is the Tale of King Mu, Son of Heaven. One Chinese myth tells a story about Mu, who dreamed of becoming an immortal. He was determined to visit the divine paradise of Kunlun and taste the Peaches of Immortality. A brave charioteer named Zaofu used his chariot to carry the king to his destination. The Tale of King Mu, Son of Heaven, a fourth-century BC romance, describes Mu's visit to the Queen Mother of the West.

There are several different accounts of this story but they all agree that King Mu, one of the greatest rulers of the Zhou, set out on a trip with his eight chargers to the far western regions of his he obtains the eight chargers and has the circuit of his realm, it proves that he has the Mandate of Heaven. On his journey he encounters the Queen Mother of the West on the mythical Mount Kunlun. They then have a love affair, and King Mu, hoping to obtain immortality, gives the Queen Mother important national treasures. In the end he must return to the human realm, and does not receive immortality. The relationship between the Queen Mother of the West and King Mu has been compared to that of a Taoist master and disciple. She passes on secret teachings to him at his request and he, the disciple, fails to benefit, and dies like any other mortal.

en. wiki/King_Mu_of_Zhou

en. wiki/Queen_Mother_of_the_West

**Emperor Wu of Han**

Emperor Wu of Han (30 July 157 BC – 29 March 87 BC), born Liu Che, courtesy name Tong, was the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty of China, ruling from 141–87 BC. His reign lasted 54 years — a record not broken until the reign of the Kangxi Emperor more than 1,800 years later. His reign resulted in a vast territorial expansion and the development of a strong and centralized state resulting from his governmental reorganization, including his promotion of Confucian doctrines. In the field of historical social and cultural studies, Emperor Wu is known for his religious innovations and patronage of the poetic and musical arts, including development of the Imperial Music Bureau into a prestigious entity. It was also during his reign that cultural contact with western Eurasia was greatly increased, directly and indirectly.

As a military campaigner, Emperor Wu led Han China through its greatest expansion. At its height, the Empire's borders spanned from modern Kyrgyzstan in the west, to Korea in the east, and to northern Vietnam in the south. Emperor Wu successfully repelled the nomadic Xiongnu from systematically raiding northern China, and dispatched his envoy Zhang Qian in 139 BC to seek an alliance with the Yuezhi of Kangju (Sogdia, modern Uzbekistan). This resulted in further missions to Central Asia.

Emperor Wu is considered one of the greatest emperors in Chinese history, due to his effective governance which made the Han dynasty one of the most powerful nations in the world. His policies and most trusted advisers were Legalist, favouring adherents of Shang Yang. However, despite establishing an autocratic and centralised state, Emperor Wu adopted the principles of Confucianism as the state philosophy and code of ethics for his empire and started a school to teach future administrators the Confucian classics. These reforms had an enduring effect throughout the existence of imperial China and an enormous influence on neighbouring civilizations.

The personal name of Emperor Wu was Liu Che (刘彻). The use of "Han" (汉) in referring to emperor Wu is a reference to the Han dynasty of which he was a part. His family name is "Liu"; the ruling family or clan of the Han dynasty shared the family name of "Liu", the family name of Liu Bang, the founding father of the Han dynasty. The character "Di" (帝) is a title: this is the Chinese word which in imperial history of China means "emperor". The character "Wu" (武) literally means "martial" or "warlike", but is also related to the concept of a particular divinity in the historical Chinese religious pantheon existing at that time. Combined, "Wu" plus "di" makes the name "Wudi", the emperor's posthumous name [8] used for historical and for religious purposes, such as offering him posthumous honours at his tomb.

One of Han Wudi's innovations was the practice of changing reign names after a number of years, as deemed auspicious or to commemorate some event. Thus the practice for dating years during the reign of Wudi was represented by the nth year of the [Reign Year Name] (where nth stands for an ordinal integer) and "Reign Year Name" for the specific name of that regnal year.

As legend tells Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty and the Queen Mother of the West met during the height of Wu's reign, when she visited him during the night of Double Seven, the night for encounters between mortal men and divine women. When the Queen Mother of the West visits Emperor Wu she shares a banquet with him, grants him special teachings, and then departs. Emperor Wu just like King Mu before him fails to follow her teachings, and fails to put them into practice, and therefore he inevitably dies. The whole story of their meeting is described in Li Qi's long work "Songs of the Queen Mother":

**The Martial Illustrious One fasted and observed abstinence in his Basilica for Receiving Florescence;**

**As he stood upright with folded hands, instantly the Queen Mother came to grant him an audience.**

**Rainbow standards numinously flashing: her qilin-drawn chariots,**

**With feathered parasols streaming and pheasant fans.**

**Her fingers holding intertwined pears, she sent them along for the emperor to eat;**

**By means of them one can prolong life and preside over the cosmos.**

**On top of her head she wore the nine-starred crown;**

**She led a flock of jade lads, then sat facing south.**

**"Do you want to hear my essential words? Now I'll report them to you."**

**The emperor thereupon burned incense and requested such a discussion.**

**"If you can rarefy your earth soul and dispatch the three corpses,**

**Afterward you will certainly have an audience with me at the Celestial Illustrious One's palace."**

**Turning her head back, she told the servant girl, Dong Shuangcheng,**

**"The wind is finished; you may perform on the Cloud Harmony Mouth Organ."**

**Red auroral clouds and the white sun, in strict attendance, did not move;**

**Seven dragons and five phoenixes in variegated disarray greeted them.**

**How regrettable! He was too ambitious and arrogant; the divinities were not satisfied,**

**But sighed and lamented over his horses' hooves and chariots' wheel tracks.**

**In his covered walkways, song bells became hard to discern in the approaching evening;**

**In the deep palace, peach and plum flowers turned snowy.**

**Now I just look at my blue jade five-branched lamp;**

**Its coiled dragon spits fire as the light is about to be severed.**

en. wiki/Emperor_Wu_of_Han

en. wiki/Queen_Mother_of_the_West


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